Race Of Champions gears up with Riedel MediorNet, Artist and Bolero

Mattias Ekstrom of Team Sweden and Felix Rosenqvist of Team Nordic driving the Cupra Urbanrebel Concept during the ROC Nations Cup 2023 at Pite Havsbad, Sweden on 28 January 2023. Photo: Jerry Andre/Race Of Champions

Race Of Champions (ROC), the yearly international motorsport event featuring some of the world’s best racing and rally drivers, has now used Riedel’s solutions for over 12 years, beginning with radios and transitioning to intercom communications across departments.

This year, ROC used Riedel’s MediorNet, Artist and Bolero systems to run communications for its second snow and ice track, located in northern Sweden just 100km from the Artic Circle. For yet another year, Riedel’s solutions have helped ROC reduce infrastructure costs, communicate clearly and quickly across teams, and provide on-site technical assistance.

“Beyond the Race Of Champions, many of us work with other large-scale sporting events, so we are familiar with Riedel’s products and use them on more than one project,” said Dominic Oliff, owner and director of operations at ROC. “Race Of Champions has its own unique set of challenges — it’s very dynamic, things change all the time, and communication is absolutely key to that. You don’t realise the importance of communication until you don’t have it. Fortunately, we’ve been able to bring Riedel’s experience and knowledge to this event, having the confidence that if something does go wrong, they’ll have it solved within just a few seconds.”

With Riedel’s 10 MediorNet frames, ROC can transmit all radio comms, video, audio and other data over one fibre-optic cable, making the workflow far more cost-effective and flexible throughout the whole venue. Additionally, ROC’s Riedel Artist ecosystem includes 36 intercom panels and an integrated Bolero system with 24 beltpacks and five antennas to cover its whole organisation. With six full duplex channels per beltpack, multiple users can speak over the intercom at the same time, helping team members to quickly and clearly update each other. The Riedel Managed Technology team also remained on-site during the event’s duration to offer setup and support.

ROC is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Rally Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR, Le Mans, Rally X and more, compete against each other, going head-to-head in identical vehicles. It’s a knockout tournament where drivers must demonstrate their skills by competing in a diverse range of vehicles across a series of high-intensity elimination rounds. As a result, the live broadcast crew, track crew, drivers and marshals all need to be prepared for quick changes and update the rest of the team.

“Race Of Champions has always been an incredible event, and Riedel remains eager to help them be their best over the course of our longstanding partnership,” said Marc Schneider, executive director global events at Riedel. “It’s been a fun ride, both literally and figuratively, and we’re happy that our solutions continue to help them work affordably, quickly and confidently.”